Judicial Yuan President Lai In-jaw (賴英照) has tendered his resignation to take responsibility for a corruption scandal involving three judges, the Judicial Yuan said yesterday.
In a statement, the judicial branch said that Lai tendered his resignation to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Friday, but the president has yet to approve it.
Three Taiwan High Court judges — Chen Jung-ho (陳榮和), Lee Chun-ti (李春地) and Tsai Kuang-chih (蔡光治) — and Banciao Prosecutor Chiu Mao-jung (邱茂榮) were detained on Wednesday on suspicion they had accepted bribes when handling four charges against former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Ho Chih-hui (何智輝), who also once served as Miaoli County commissioner.
The judges allegedly took bribes in return for acquitting Ho of corruption charges, including accusations that he took bribes in a land development project in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) 10 years ago that had earned him a 19-year jail sentence and a NT$220 million (US$6.8 million) fine from a lower court.
Judicial reform groups have called for senior judicial officials to take responsibility in the wake of the scandal and resign.
Taiwan High Court Chief Justice Huang Shui-tong (黃水通) has already tendered his resignation to the Judicial Yuan.
“Lai believes that he himself should take the political responsibility, and that there is no reason for Huang to take sole responsibility,” the Judicial Yuan’s statement said, adding that Lai has asked Ma to quickly approve his resignation.
If it is approved, he will also approve Huang’s resignation, the statement said.
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) yesterday said the president would discuss the issue with Lai, declining to confirm whether Ma would accept Lai's resignation.
“President Ma will continue talking with Lai. We have no further comment [on whether Ma will accept Lai's resignation,]” he said.
Ma remained silent yesterday when approached by reporters for comment.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said Huang had to resign to take responsibility, but that Lai could stay to carry out judicial reforms.
Meanwhile, prosecutors from the Special Investigation Panel under the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office said yesterday that they suspected Ho was still in the country.
Ho fled from his residence in Miaoli County just before investigators reached his house early on Tuesday and has not been seen since.
Prosecutors have put Ho on the wanted list.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS